Bad Cops and the Computer Guy Informant

I was just reading this appalling story of alleged attacks on disabled victims in Los Angeles and something has struck me as rather odd:

The assaults came to light when an unknown man dumped a bundle of 11 DVDs at the Los Angeles County sheriff’s station in March. Attached to the videos was a note saying he had pulled them from a computer hard drive that another man had asked him to clean.

An “unknown man”, hey?  While this man may be unknown to Police, he may be known to the offender(s) in question who NOW KNOWS he is the informant.  Perhaps the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. should take a lesson from Wikileaks – or any journalist who never reveals their sources!

But it gets better… much better… later in the same story:

They also want to speak to the man who gave them the videos and stressed that he could remain anonymous.

Oh. My. God. They’re not serious are they?

Well maybe they are, so here is the multiple choice:

(a) they have just outed the informant accidentally; or

(b) they’re flushing the informant out by blowing his cover (and putting him in potential danger)

I just feel sorry for the computer guy who appears to have attempted to do the right (and anonymous) thing and is being dragged into this anyway.